


Truth of Gratitude

by crimsonhawk



Series: Storms Over Colorado Universe [4]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:37:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonhawk/pseuds/crimsonhawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Thanksgiving Installment of the SOC Road Trip Series. Kim and Shego visit Plymouth in order to experience the ambiance of the First Thanksgiving. Kim learns more about Shego and her family, including why she has such dark opinions of the First Thanksgiving. -mild KIGO-</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth of Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the next Storms Over Colorado story, the Thanksgiving installment. I'm continue to explore and experiment with this continuity, so please feel free to PM me with suggestions and complaints.

**KIM POSSIBLE: TRUTH OF GRATITUDE**

"So, where to next, Pumpkin?" Shego said, stepping down the steps from the giant granite canopy from which the two women had exited.

Kim Possible smiled at Shego in response. "There's a lot to do here in Plymouth. I didn't even realize until we stopped at the tourism center and got the literature."

"Well, doy!" Shego laughed. "It's America's Hometown, after all. That's why I decided to spring for the plane tickets to get here in time for Thanksgiving."

Kim nodded at that and smiled at the memories of the prior week.

Kim and Shego were driving together on a road trip. After finishing up in Santa Fe on Veterans Day, Kim and Shego had decided to get adventurous and drive through Albuquerque and onward along the Rio Grande (or the _Rio Bravo del Norte_ , if you saw it from the Mexicans' point of view). They drove into Texas through El Paso and onward through several lesser townships. Finally, they broke from the Rio Grande at Laredo and drove across to Corpus Christi, where they caught the flight to Boston. Once in Boston, they rented a car and drove to Plymouth.

Most of the communities that they had driven through had been heavily Hispanic. But both women were conversationally fluent in Spanish, so that had hindered them little. In fact, both women had been treated exceptionally well in most of the communities through which they had driven. Much more than once, the women had stopped to enjoy some local cuisine at one family's home or another. And it was all delicious. Then again, Shego _really_ enjoyed spicy food...

While Kim was humbled by this treatment, she was rather (pleasantly) surprised that Shego had been treated just as well. Kim had then learned from one of the little boys to whom she'd spoken that Shego was seen as something of a Robin Hood style hero in many of the poorer communities of the United States.

Shego had refused to comment on the matter.

Kim smiled at that memory before looking back at Shego. "Well, we just saw the Plymouth Rock. We could... Hey, why don't we drive out to the Plimoth Plantation? I've wanted to see the _Mayflower_ replica docked there."

"The _Mayflower II_?" Shego asked for clarification as the two women strode to their rental car. "Why not? Maybe we can stand on the deck and pretend to be pirates or something."

Kim laughed and posed dramatically next to the black Trans Am. "The Red Devil and the Dragon of the Sea, conquerors of the Seven Seas."

Shego simply shook her head and dropped into the driver's seat of the classic sports car. "Get into the car, my goofy Red Devil, so we can be on our way."

"Aye-aye, Captain Shego!" Kim saluted before she dropped down into the passenger seat of the car and shut the door behind her.

"Oh?" Shego asked as she started the car, looking at Kim curiously. "I'm the captain? I'd've figured that Miss Anything Is Possible would want to be captain."

"Am I really _that_ arrogant?" Kim asked, placing a hand gingerly over her chest in false shock.

"Let's see," Shego smirked as she pulled the car out. "Teen hero. Straight A student. Captain of the cheerleading squad. Chair of just about every student committee in Middleton High. Salutatorian of your graduating class... and the only reason you weren't the valedictorian was because some Stephen Hawkings wannabe beat you out be one-tenth of a percent. Finally, you were a general pain in my ass for almost four years. And I'm supposed to be the World's Greatest Thief and the World's Most Dangerous Woman. Shall I continue?"

"Jealous much?" Kim smirked.

Shego snorted back her laughter. "Jealousy is for the confidence-impaired. There _is_ an arena where I know for a fact I will beat you, hands-down. I just won't rush our relationship to _that_ stage."

"Oh, really?" Kim laughed in continued mock shock.

Shego smirked at the beautiful redhead. "What? Shocked that I know I'll beat you so easily in that arena?"

Kim shook her head and chuckled. "No. I'm shocked that you're mature enough not to rush it."

"I'm a lot more mature than you give me credit for, Princess," Shego gasped in a mock insulted tone, sticking her tongue out at Kim before returning her attention to the road.

"Says the woman who just gave me the raspberries," Kim chuckled, causing Shego to bow and shake her head chuckling.

* * *

"The Mayflower II was amazing!" Kim laughed, dancing through the street of the Plimoth Plantation. "Pretending to be pirates for a few moments was fun."

Shego nodded as she walked along with her hands in her sweater pockets. "I still have reservations about being the captain, Princess. How about the first mate and navigator? I make a better driver than a leader."

Kim turned around to face Shego with a gentle smile on her face. "Shego, you need to come out of your shell. You may not want to see it, but I think you'd make a wonderful leader."

"Effective, maybe," Shego sighed. "Wonderful, not so much."

Kim considered her traveling partner, her lips pressed thinly together in concern. "Listen, Shego, I know you're not all into Positivity and Girl Power and all that, but you need to start thinking better of yourself."

"On what basis, Kim?" Shego asked. The fact that Shego had just used Kim's proper name wasn't lost on the redhead. "I've spent most of my adult life playing toady to an abusive half-wit. I'd rather be traveling across the country and sampling luxuries rather than settling down and making something of my life. I'm a green-skinned freak who is barely even human. I..."

"Time out," Kim said, more firmly than Shego expected. "Okay, I know you don't like me being the eternal optimist, but now you're being the eternal pessimist. So how about we meet in the middle somewhere?"

"How?" Shego asked, fighting hard to look at Kim in the eyes.

Kim could see the tears starting to well up in Shego's eyes. Maybe she was pushing a little too hard.

"For now," Kim replied softly, "let's just enjoy these luxuries that we're sampling. We're doing this because we both needed a break from the life we're cornered ourselves in. So let's just not be ashamed that we're doing it. Then we'll figure out what to do from there. With fresh minds and fresh souls."

Shego breathed in and nodded solemnly.

Kim smiled softly and patted Shego on the shoulder. "And, for the record, you're not a green-skinned freak. You're a beautiful woman."

Shego smirked softly yet sardonically. "Says the woman who wants to eventually win my heart."

Kim smirked back in a similar fashion. "And the opinion of who else is important? All things considered, a year ago, even mine shouldn't have been important."

"It was," Shego whispered, looking away.

"Shego," Kim replied breathlessly, considering the woman before her as if for the first time.

Shego started to say something more, but something interrupted her.

"Gather round, one and all," a nearby tour guide dressed as an 17th century Pilgrim announced. "Watch as we act out and tell you the story of the First Thanksgiving. Of how the Indians came to the aid of the starving Pilgrims and helped them survive their first winter in the new Colony. Of how the two people celebrated the next harvest together in thankfulness and prayer..."

"It's a lie," Shego growled under her breath, looking at the man in hatred. "It's all a lie."

"Huh?" Kim blinked, caught off guard by Shego's sudden belligerence.

"Come on, Kimmie," Shego snapped, grabbing Kim by the wrist and dragging the redhead away from the tour guid. "We need to leave. Now."

"Um, okay...," Kim said dumbly, following the ex-villainess as best as she could.

* * *

Back at the hotel room, Kim sat huddled on her bed. Just as it had been at every motel or hotel since they had left Middleton, the room was furnished with two full-sized beds rather than a single king-sized bed. Part of Kim was disappointed but part of her was relieved. While part of Kim had yearned to feel Shego's strong, warm arms on a constant basis, she knew that asking for that too often so early in their friendship was result in frustration and hurt feelings.

That was what it was at that point... a friendship. Sure, Shego had allowed Kim to sleep next to her a couple of times. On at least one point, it couldn't be helped... they had slept outdoors and sharing their body heat in the late Autumn was the best option at the time. But at each time, they had simply held each other and enjoyed their shared body heat. It had been purely platonic.

Beyond the occasional kiss on the cheek, they had not even kissed yet.

Considering all of that, Kim was not overly surprised (and should not have been overly concerned) that this particular room had two beds as well.

However, Kim was at that point extremely concerned for Shego. At a time when she seemed to have suddenly hit her emotional lowest, something that the tour guide had said had struck a cord with the green woman and upset her greatly. Kim wanted to reach out and hold Shego. To comfort her. To let her know that she was there for her.

But they were just friends.

 _Friend-zoned by my arch-nemesis,_ Kim thought to herself. _Wait, why am I worried about that when Shego is hurting so badly? Maybe Shego is right. Maybe I am as arrogant as she says I am._

With that, Kim felt a tear start to creep down her cheek. Absently, she reached up and wiped away the tear with one of her sweater sleeves.

"Are you okay, Pumpkin?" came a voice from the doorway of the nearby bathroom.

Kim glanced over and saw Shego standing there. She was in the black Tacnayn nightgown that Kim had given her. It was the same nightgown that Kim had loaned to Shego when the two of them were staying in that cabin in north Colorado. The same cabin stay that had opened up their friendship and had helped them plan out this road trip.

And Shego looked so beautiful in it.

"I was... worried about you, Shego," Kim confessed. It was the truth, just not the whole truth. "You seemed so angry..."

"An angry Shego _is_ something _everyone_ should be worried about," Shego chuckled, crossed the room and sitting down on the bed next to Kim. "That just means you're smart. Par for the course for a Possible. So, why the tears?"

"I...," Kim started, pausing. "I... I guess I'm just having selfish thoughts. That's all."

Shego shook her head. "Not everything can be fixed with a positive thought and a kind word, Cupcake. At least, I'm assuming that's what you were thinking—that you wished you could say a couple of magic words and chase my blues away."

Kim nodded. "Something like that..."

Kim wasn't sure if it was safe to confide in Shego what she was _really_ thinking.

"I've had a rough life, Kimmie," Shego said soothingly, reaching out to stroke the redhead's hair gently.

 _Grrr! So not helping!_ Kim thought to herself as she subconsciously leaned into the ex-villainess' soothing touch.

"I have to come to terms with my demons on my own terms, in my own time," Shego continued. "But I can do it. Especially if you've got my back like you do. I owe you a lot, Kimmie."

"Then I will be patient," Kim said softly, almost mutely, as she closed her eyes and bent her head into Shego's gentle fingers.

Shego smirked. She didn't miss the significance of what Kim had just said. The redhead probably didn't even realize she had said it, given the state of platonic euphoria she was in thanks to Shego's expert fingers. "Thank you," Shego replied simply, even though the urge to toy with the redhead was nigh overwhelming. "Besides, a quick hot shower and I'm in a much better mood. Just in time for our Thanksgiving gathering."

Kim blinked and sat back up to look at Shego. "Gathering? Where are we going?"

"What?" Shego laughed, placing a hand on her chest in mock shock. "Go to a restaurant in Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day? Are you out of your mind? I'm not fighting those crowds. I've ordered room service. We're having the gathering here."

Kim smirked playfully at that. "A gathering of two, I take it?"

Shego laughed. "As lovely as that sounds right now, sadly, no. I've invited some guests."

Before Kim could ask further, the hotel room phone rang. Shego stood up and strode to the phone, answering it.

"Yes? They have? Very well, send them on up. Would you also check on my room service? I appreciate it. Thank you."

With that, Shego hung up the phone.

"The guests are here?" Kim asked carefully.

"Yes, they are," Shego replied, bowing her head. "Now I have to beg you to be my emotional anchor yet again. God help me for inviting these idiots over for dinner."

Kim's eyes went wide on hearing that. "Wait, you actually invited...?"

Before Kim could finish the question, the door to the hotel room burst open and a tall, slender man jumped in to the room. Posing dramatically in his purple suit, dress shirt, and tie, his mulleted and ponytailed purple hair swayed in some imagined breeze. He smiled and declared loudly, "Tada! The life of the party _has_ arrived!"

"You're losing your senses in your old age, Melvin," Shego laughed, suddenly drawing Kim into a tight hug. "She arrived with me last night."

Kim blushed softly to that, privately enjoying the hug.

"Whatever," Melvin laughed. "I brought you your rhubarb pie, Sis. So the least you could do is humor me for once."

"Oh, is poor Mego's widdle ego hurt by...," Shego began. She suddenly stopped and blinked. "Wait, did you say rhubarb pie? Where?"

Mego laughed. "That caught your attention, didn't it? Wesley should be up with it any moment."

Shego pouted. "What, you couldn't even be bothered to _carry_ it?"

"And strain my delicate and oh-so-handsome back?" Mego said, twisting about as if to pop his back back into place. "Plus it might ruin my manicure."

Shego rolled her eyes at that. Kim couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Shelly, are you...," a voice called from out in the hallway.

"...in here?" came a second, identical voice.

"Wesley, Weston!" Shego called. "Yeah, I'm in here. Get yourselves in here. One of you twerps have my pie!"

Two young men, in their late teens, stepped into the room. They both had dark red hair and wore dark red t-shirts over blue jeans and tennis shoes. One of them was indeed carrying a pie.

"Hi, Weegs," Kim gushed as Shego immediately leapt to her feet to accept the proffered pie.

"Hi, Kim!" both Wesley and Weston chimed in unison. "Thank you for having us over."

"Please," Kim replied, waving the gratitude off. "It was Shego's idea. She put all the work in the planning and prepping."

"What the Princess is trying to avoid saying is that I surprised her with this," Shego laughed, setting the pie down on a nearby table. "So, when is Hank getting here?"

Mego blinked a couple of times at Shego as he looked confused. "Wait, I was supposed to tell Henry that we were gathering like this? I thought this was all about me. My bad."

Shego stopped to glare angrily at Mego for several moments. The Wego twins glanced between the two siblings as Kim fidgeted slightly at the sight. Finally, both Shego and Mego began laughing long and hard.

"Oh, man, I love you, Melvin," Shego finally said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. "You know how to kiss up to me despite your prima donna attitude."

"Don't I know it," Mego smiled. "I'm the best, I know."

"So," Kim said, looking at Mego. "You guys flew out here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us?"

"Yeah," Mego said, turning to the redhead. "Sheeg called me last week, said she wanted to meet up today."

Kim rose her brows to that before turning to consider Shego. Shego merely shrugged.

"I've had a little bit to get over what Drakken did to me," Shego admitted. "So, now I'm able to deal with my family."

"And besides, Hank is the only one...," Wesley began.

"...who'd give Shego flak for going evil," Weston finished.

"I probably would, too," Melvin corrected. "But I'm better than Hank in every way. And I'm not lowering myself to his level."

"Lord knows you have your own lows to descend to," Shego smirked, earning a mocking face from her brother.

At that point, there was a knock at the hotel door. Kim strode over to the door, peeped through the peephole, and then opened the door. Three attendants entered, each pushing a food cart.

"And _that_ would be Thanksgiving dinner," Shego smiled, rubbing her hands together.

The attendants each lifted the covers from their respective dishes, then nodded respectfully to Kim and the Go's before retreating from the room. Before the heroes was a full spread of a Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey meat, already carves and separated artfully onto plates of white and dark meats, was flanked by casserole dishes full of stuffing, cornbread, and gravy. A second cart featured green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and candied yams. A third cart tantalizingly displayed apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cream pie. Wesley quickly placed Shego's rhubarb pie next to the other pies. There was a bucket of ice underneath the pie cart.

"This looks so wonderful," Kim smiled. "Did they not bring up anything to drink?"

Shego smirked and stood up. "That, Princess, was my department."

Shego then strode over to the room's dresser and opened one of the drawers. She gingerly lifted a large wine bottle out of the drawer and proudly presented it to the rest of the attendees.

"Nice!" Kim breathed.

"Don't worry, you can thank me later," Shego purred playfully at Kim.

Kim, who was still having troubled thoughts about her current standing with the ex-villainess, bit her lower lip and blushed slightly, fidgeting in her spot on the edge of her bed. That didn't escape Mego's notice. Mego considered Kim momentarily before raising a brow to his sister.

Shego chuckled slightly at that. She walked past Mego towards the carts. As she did, she leaned into her brother.

"Believe you me, Meeg," Shego stage-whispered into Mego's ear. " _When_ it happens, you will _not_ be getting any notification on it. So just keep your little fantasies in your head."

Kim blinked at that. _She said_ _ **when**_ _, not_ _ **if**_ _,_ she thought to herself. _There's still hope._

Shego caught how Kim's mood seemed to suddenly brighten. She grinned mischievously at the redhead in response before placing the wine into the bucket of ice. She then turned to the others, slapped her hands together, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, ladies," Shego said. "This dinner isn't serving itself. You see the plates and silverware under the turkey cart. Start grabbing grub."

As Mego and the Wego twins stood up to approach the carts, Kim bent forward, closed her eyes, and cupped her hands together.

Shego turned to see Kim in that position. "Kimmie? Are you okay?"

"Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day," Kim began in a soft, reverent tone. "We bow our hearts to You and pray. We give You thanks for all You've done, especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son. For beauty in nature, Your glory we see. For joy and health, friends and family. For daily provisions, Your mercy and care. These are the blessings You graciously share. So today we offer this response of praise with a promise to follow You all of our days. Amen."

Shego rose a brow to that. "Is that a traditional prayer in your family?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, but just within the last couple of years. Mom found it on the Internet and fell in love with it. A Christian writer by the name of Mary Fairchild originally wrote it."

Shego offered a hand to Kim and grinned. "Well, Pumpkin, you've said grace. Now you need to get your skinny fanny up and get yourself some food."

"Yes, Mother Shego," Kim laughed with a playful sarcasm lacing her voice. She took Shego's hand and allowed herself to be hefted up onto her feet. "By the way, I'm glad you're in such a good mood now. Thank you."

"You weren't before?" Mego asked curiously, turning to Shego with a plate (and mouth) full of food. Shego turned to Mego with a certain look and Mego rolled his eyes. "You were near the Pilgrim performers when they started their First Thanksgiving spiel, weren't you."

"Yeah," Shego growled. "And I didn't stay long enough for them..."

"...to tick you off too badly," Mego nodded. "Gotcha. Good idea."

"Okay, that's just creepy," Kim muttered softly, looking between the two siblings.

"What's creepy?" both Shego and Mego said in unison, turning to look at the redhead.

"Um, that?" Kim replied, pointing at the two of them.

Shego and Mego looked at each other for a moment then started laughing. Shego tried to sober herself by clearing her throat before turning back to Kim.

"Kimmie, sweetie," Shego chuckled. "I know I don't make a big deal out of it, so you probably didn't catch it in all of our talking. But Meeg is my twin brother."

"Oh, yeah," Kim laughed apologetically. "You did mention that before. I'm just so used to identical twins, between the Tweebs and the Weegs, that I'm not used to fraternal twins."

Shego and Mego glanced at each other for a moment and started laughing again.

Wesley and Weston, who were now sitting on Shego's bed with full plates of food, looked up angrily at their siblings.

"Don't you dare...," Wesley started.

"...say a word," Weston finished.

"Um, okay?" Kim muttered, fidgeting slightly where she stood.

"Oh, now we _have_ to say something," Mego laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, you made my Kimmie uncomfortable with that," Shego agreed.

Both Wesley and Weston harrumphed at that.

"Say something about what?" Kim asked innocently enough.

Shego was grinning as if she had just had the most perfect Christmas morning. "Meeg and I _are_ twins. Wesley and Weston are _not_."

"Say what?" Kim breathed with astonishment in her voice.

"Yeah," Wesley sighed sadly. "It's true. Technically..."

"...I'm a copy, not a twin," Weston finished, biting his lower lip.

"Wesley was jealous of the glory Sheeg and I were hogging," Mego said. "So, when we all got our comet powers...,"

"...Wesley made a copy of himself, named him Weston, and refused to dismiss him ever since," Shego added.

"We are _not_ jealous!" both Wesley and Weston exclaimed. Then, in unison, they sobered their expressions and glanced sadly to the floor. "Okay, maybe we are."

"Hey, look at it this way," Kim explained, stepping up to the Wego twins. "I'm stuck as a single person. Shego and Mego are stuck as twins. You, on the other hand..." At that point, Kim flashed Wesley and Weston a mischievous grin. "You can decide on the spur of the moment that you want to be the world's first set of icosaplets and make it happen."

"Ico... what?" Shego asked, cocking a brow.

"College kids and their big words," Mego said, shaking his head.

"Ico...?" Wesley asked, looking at Weston.

"...saplets?" Weston finished, looking back at Wesley.

Then suddenly, both of the Wego twins eyes lit up and they both smiled. "Oh, my God!" they both exclaimed in unison.

That caused Shego to freeze up in fear. "Kimmie, what did you do?"

Kim stood back with a smug, satisfied grin on her face as she crossed her arms and watched the Wego twins.

"Now we're going to have to come up with...," Wesley began excitedly.

"...eighteen more names for ourselves," Weston finished.

"WHAT?!" Shego all but screamed.

Kim smiled at her travel companion. "You know how twins are the two count, triplets are the three count, quadruplets are the four count, and so on? Well, icosaplets are the twenty count."

Shego growned and slapped a hand over her eyes as she bowed her head. Mego simply shook his head and chuckled.

"Mego!" Wesley and Weston asked in unison. "Can we hit the library here in Plymouth before heading home?"

"I'll think about it," was all that Mego promised.

The rest of the meal went about quietly, as everyone filled their plates and enjoyed a good meal. As everyone began picking out deserts, Kim asked a question.

"You don't seem to like the story of the First Thanksgiving, Shego," Kim said, looking at her companion curiously. "Why is that?"

"Because it's nothing but a big fat lie," Shego growled softly. "And, no, I'm not mad at you, before you get any ideas about my mood. It's just a sore point with me."

"With us," Mego added, taking a bite out of his chocolate cream pie. "Have you told her, Sheeg?"

Shego shook her head. "I never saw it as important."

"Told me what?" Kim asked, suddenly curious.

"Hego, Mego, the Weegs, and I," Shego explained between bites of her rhubarb pie, "we're all part Native American. Our maternal grandmother was Wampanoag."

Kim nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. And I take it then that you were taught a different story about the First Thanksgiving?"

Shego nodded. "European settlers who came before the Pilgrims basically wiped out the Patuxet people. They were either sold into slavery or allowed to die from small pox. By the time the Pilgrims did come, there was only one former slave Patuxet left, by the name of Squanto."

"It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn and how to fish," Mego continued. "He even negotiated a peace treaty with the Wampanoag Nation. Afterwards, the First Thanksgiving pretty much happened as you're led to believe."

"So, what's the issue?" Kim asked. "I mean, beyond the unfortunate decimation of the Patuxets, which I can see you being mad about."

"It was the results of that First Thanksgiving," Shego seethed. "When other Europeans found out how good the Pilgrims had it with the Wampanoag, they came over and started seizing up land and Native Americans like they owned the place. Did you know that the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a Day of Thanksgiving because over 700 men, women, and children had been murdered?"

"What?" Kim breathed. "I don't remember that in History class. Then again, Mr. Barkin was teaching that class half of the time..."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Steve probably spoon fed you something from a children's book. I mean, the man is sweet enough and easy on the eyes, but the poor dope is so overworked he can't tell north from strawberry cheesecake."

"Sheeg is right, though," Mego said, leaning forward with a serious look on his face. "Not only that about the Massachusetts guy, churches declared another Day of Thanksgiving for the victory of us heathens. They were kicking Native heads around like soccer balls during the feasts."

Kim suddenly stopped chewing on her pumpkin pie and looked down on her desert as if noticing for the first time how disgusting it must be.

"They just kept at it until the number of Days of Thanksgiving for victories over Natives became stupid ridiculous," Shego continued. "Finally, our wise first President said enough was enough and said there should be only one day of Thanksgiving each year instead of one celebrating each and every massacre."

"Even President Lincoln, the one who declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, did so on the same day he ordered troops to march on Minnesota Sioux," Mego pointed out.

Kim nodded softly to that. She honestly didn't know how to respond to all of that.

"So, yeah, Cupcake," Shego said, sitting down next to Kim and scooting close to her. "I didn't mean to bring the mood down like this..."

"...but I did ask," Kim agreed. "And I feel better knowing you're willing to be honest with me, even in the face of something like that."

Shego smiled softly. "So, how about we move on to something happy?"

Kim glanced up and, for a brief moment, olive eyes met emerald eyes. For Kim, the world seemed to stand still as she gazed into Shego's eyes. Then, suddenly, Kim got an impulse. One that she followed through on. She quickly leaned up and kissed Shego playfully on her left cheek. She then giggled and skipped across the room.

"I'm in my happy zone now," Kim laughed as she dished herself up some more pumpkin pie.

"Did she just...?" Mego whispered to Shego in an incredulous tone.

"Mind out of the gutter, Melvin," Shego whispered back with a guttural growl in her voice.

"Right," Mego replied, stuffing a huge bite of chocolate cream pie into his mouth.

* * *

"I love and miss you too, Mom," Kim said into her wrist Kimmunicator. "So we're meeting in Florida at Nana's for Christmas, right?"

"I hope we do, Kimmie," came the voice of Kim's mother, Dr. Anne Possible. "I miss you so much."

"We'll call it a date then," Kim laughed. "I'll go ahead then and let you..." She paused as Shego, who was laying in her bed nearby, waved frantically at her. "Oh, wait, Shego wanted to say something."

Kim took her Kimmunicator off of her wrist and handed it to Shego. Shego smiled and held the Kimmunicator to her face. "Hi, Anne. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to thank you for everything."

"I'm just glad you're both safe and happy," Anne replied. "Especially with everything you've been through recently."

"Bah," Shego scoffed playfully. "Be at ground zero of a meteor landing and then come tell me about how hard it is coping with a nut job with a temper problem."

"I'm still glad you girls are safe and happy," Anne countered. "And that 'nut job' just got his sentence earlier this week. They threw the proverbial book at him this time."

"Good," Shego replied. "Now let's hope there are no one like Warmonga willing to bust him out again."

"Let's hope," Anne agreed. "Well, you two have a good night. I'll talk at you two later?"

"It's guaranteed, Anne," Shego said softly. "You couldn't keep the two of us away even if you tried."

"Good," Anne said, the smile apparent in her voice. "Good night, Shego. Good night, Kimmie!"

"Night, Mom!" Kim yelled back, hoping she was heard over the Kimmunicator.

Shego then handed the Kimmunicator back to Kim. "I love your Mom, Kimmie. I mean, my Mom was a hard worker and took care of her kids, but your Mom seems to have that special something."

"She does," Kim agreed, smiling softly. "And I'd like to meet your Mom someday."

"Someday," Shego said, nodding softly.

Kim then laid down in her bed and rolled over so that her back was facing Shego. "Well, I'm well fed and pooped. Good night, Shego."

"Good night, Princess," Shego replied.

Kim settled into her pillow and smiled softly as thoughts of the day and how it turned out drifted through her head. Just as she was about to nod off to sleep, she was startled by an unexpected sensation. A soft pair of lips brushed playfully across her right cheek. Before Kim could bolt upright, soft footsteps padded across the room and Shego was already settled back into bed.

As Kim blinked incredulously at Shego, Shego chuckled. "I'm in my happy zone now. Good night, Kimmie."

With that, Shego closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.

Kim reached a hand up to her right cheek and gently touched where she had felt the kiss. She then smiled softly at the green-skinned beauty before laying back down and settling into a soft, gentle, happy sleep of her own.

**[END TRUTH OF GRATITUDE]**


End file.
